A stubborn five-alarm fire that gutted a three-story brick apartment building on Washington Place kept firefighters busy for more than four hours on Friday and sent a resident to a hospital with critical injuries, authorities said. Flames and columns of thick black smoke could be seen billowing from the structure for several hours as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.
An occupant of a ground-floor apartment, identified only as a 53-year-old woman, was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson with critical injures, said Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost Sr. The woman’s apartment was “fully involved in flames” when firefighters arrived at the scene, Trentacost said.
Two firefighters were injured. One may have broken one or more ribs, Trentacost said. Another dislocated his shoulder. The firefighters, whose names were not released, also were taken to St. Joseph’s, the chief said.
Firefighters used a ladder truck to rescue a woman from a third-floor window soon after arriving at the scene, Trentacost said. Another woman was rescued from a second-floor apartment. Both were treated for minor injuries, Trentacost said.
About a dozen fire departments from towns as close as Paterson and as far away as Teaneck responded to the scene.
For a time just before 5 p.m., it appeared that firefighters were getting the better of the blaze. But it quickly flared up, spreading from the rear to the front and gutting the interior. A section of the roof at the rear of the building caved in, and fire officials said they were concerned that the building was in danger of collapsing.
